Collocations for river - noun

broad, great, large, long, mighty, wide
the mighty River Nile
The river was too wide to swim across comfortably.

major
major rivers such as the Congo

little, narrow, small
deep
shallow
high
The river is still high after the recent rain.

low
fast-flowing
raging, rushing, white-water, wild
flowing, free-flowing
lazy, slow-moving, sluggish
frozen, icy
meandering, winding
swollen
The river was swollen after the floods.

navigable
The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons.

underground
coastal, mountain
freshwater
tidal
polluted
sacred
the Ganges and other sacred rivers

salmon

cross, ford, get across
We crossed the river by boat.
How are we going to get across the river?

swim
We had to swim the river. which is deep and very rapid.

follow
I had decided to follow the river to my destination.

bridge
They've bridged the river at four points.

span
The bridge once spanned the river Serein.

dam
Wildlife groups are protesting against the proposal to dam the river.

divert
plans to divert the river further north

dredge
They're dredging the river to make it safer for larger boats.

navigate
The rocks make the river hard to navigate.

flow, run, wind
This river flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
A river runs through the field.
The river winds its way through the hills.

rise
The river has risen with the rains.
The river rises in central Africa.

be in flood (BrE), burst its banks, flood (sth), overflow sth
The river had overflowed its banks.

dry up
This river dried up long ago.

bank
bed, bottom
water
level
when the river level is low

basin, channel, delta, mouth, plain, valley
system
crossing
barge, boat, steamer
traffic
cruise, trip
rock (esp. AmE)
as smooth as river rocks

city, port, town
a river town in Borneo

across a/the river
There's a bridge across the river.

along a/the river, down a/the river
We walked along the river.
They sailed down the river.

down by a/the river, down to a/the river
Let's go down to the river at sunset.

into a/the river
He dived into the river.

in a/the river
Trout live in this river.

on a/the river
There was a boat on the river.

up a/the river
We were sailing up the river.

river of (figurative)
a river of lava

the banks, bottom, middle, side, surface, etc. of a river, the river's edge
They were waiting for us on the other side of the river.

a bend in the river
the course of a river, the direction of a river